Lucid Nightmare
by katamari3524
Summary: It all starts when Korra receives an odd letter.
1. Slumber's End

Slumber's End

"To be delivered to Avatar Korra:

We of the Order of the White Lotus, Chapter of Petrified Stems would formally request your presence. With the current state of affairs: the Equalists threatening to overthrow Republic City, we believe that it is necessary to utilize the resource locked inside Quietus Crypt. Through a unanimous vote, a council of the grand masters have decided our proposition to be in the best interest of all people. Your presence would be preferred, however it is not necessary. The following date has been decided. If you are unable to appear" Avatar Korra... "please notify" Avatar Korra... "your local" Avatar Korra...

The repetition of her name snapped Korra's mind away from the old letter she had received those days before. Gone was the familiar salty taste of sea air, the odd sounds of Winged Lemurs flying about, and Tenzin hovering over her shoulder, curious and concerned about the mysterious letter. Now she stood in an old mineshaft in the mountains looming behind Republic City, descending in an elegant brass cage, an open elevator. She had never been in one so antiquated seeming, decades, perhaps a century old, yet the brass still shined like new.

"Avatar Korra, were you paying attention?" Korra heard. She looked to her right. Through the darkness stood somebody in pure white robes, immaculate white cloth that covered the person from head to toe. They stood unmoving, like a marble statue seeming to stare out into never ending blackness that surrounded the elevator.

"You," Korra began saying, her mind trying to find where she had been distracted. "You were saying something about Aang doing something with..."

"I have not spoken about Avatar Aang in several minutes," the person said slowly. Their voice was so quiet, almost seeming as if they were not truly there. "I will try to shorten this, but do try to pay attention this time. Follow these simple rules. Do not Earthbend, under any circumstances."

"Some danger?"

"This underground complex is built in a way so that the walls support most of the weight above. Using Earthbending could and likely will kill all of us. Next, this complex is built to be confusing and easy to get lost in. Do not wander off. Stay close to me."

Korra smiled slightly at the obviousness of the instruction. Wandering off was nearly impossible. It seemed the deeper they went in the mere elevator, the darker and darker it seemed to become. She could barely see her fingertips if her arm was outstretched, much less find any reason to stay away from the one person who seemed to hold a lantern no matter where they went.

"What insane asylum reject designed this place?"

"If you had listened to me before you would understand that it was a prison for Earthbenders."

"So, the Fire Nation..."

"It predates Firelord Sozin's grandfathers. It was Earth Kingdom in design, although the Fire Nation did use it."

"No way this elevator is that old," Korra said slightly grasping at the one of the brass bars.

"Please do not touch that," the person said. "This elevator is a most recent renovation, as is the library and the inclusion of the crypt."

"Crypt?"

"You did read the letter, correct? The crypt is what you have been summoned here for. Avatar Aang sealed it, therefore it is best if an Avatar was present for its opening."

"A crypt?" Korra repeated.

"Yes a crypt, Avatar." the person in white responded, neither frustration nor facetiousness leaking through the voice. "A casket made of stone holding"  
"Dead things," Korra interrupted. "You brought me here to find some dead body?"

"You, Avatar Korra should know that not all things follow mortal rules of life and death."

"So what is not entirely dead thing," she said as a grin appeared across her mouth."

"Something that may be able to prevent these Equalists from destroying the peace of this world."

The elevator stopped, its familiar rumbling ending as it seemed to hit the ground. Slowly, the person in white pushed the brass gate forward, opening into an area of near total darkness.

Not a footstep could be sensed through the movement of the cloth, nor by any swinging of the lantern. The light merely moved slightly forward, out of the elevator and into a hallway of polished stone walls and floor. For a single second, Korra felt as if she were looking at some sort of old machine, arcane gears turning before her, understanding nothing of what was supposed to happen, not even knowing of the age of everything that stood.

"Do keep up, Avatar," the person said as Korra took her first steps out of the elevator, slowly looking around at the walls and ceiling. She began walking, footstep after footstep droning themselves out as she followed the many twists and turns, always a few short footsteps behind the person in white.

"Its so dark. You're sure that nothing else is down here, right?" Korra asked in surprise and confusion. It seemed that beyond the slight glow of the lantern, darkness seemed to creep up constantly, so that Korra could never know if there was or was not something out there, ever just a few short steps out of the light.

"This place is without life. It was designed to take life away. Nothing is alive here. Nothing could live here."

Korra looked ahead, seeing a dim light at the end of the long hallway, uncountable paces away from the crypt, and everything that stood to happen. As she watched the lit room grow closer and closer, the drone of her footsteps echoed down the hallway, a single sound penetrating the otherwise silence and darkness.

"What about ghosts?" Korra asked as she looked back.

"Ghosts are just figments of a restless mind," the person said, "Being in an area like this where you are deprived of sight and sound, it can cause hallucinations. Nothing is alive down here. Nothing can be alive down here. Any odd movements you see are your mind being restless. Any odd sounds you hear are your mind being bored."

"That," Korra began saying. The hallway's end grew nearer, ending in a lit room. As far as she could tell, less than a minute of walking remained. "That sounds... specific."

"There are those amongst the Chapter of Petrified Stems whose minds had suffered in the darkness and silence. However, their writings and relics were suppressed, so that they would not corrupt other members."

"Corrupt?" They were growing very close to the lit room.

"They believed it was in the best interests of all to abandon our righteous work, shirk our duties, and abandon the crypt beneath mountains of rubble. Some even believed that only evil laid in the hallways."

"And, you're sure that they were completely nuts." Korra said as she looked back, feeling the same feeling of something following her. She could see nothing, simply hearing the echoes of only her footsteps. They were nearly to the room with lights, just a few more seconds. Korra could even see inside the room.

"A place ruled by evil. Such foolishness. Evil is a concept exclusive to sentience. As the Avatar, you would do well to understand that evil comes and leaves with beings with minds, and only men and spirits are truly evil or truly good. Beasts and this thing lack minds."

"Wait, what do you mean beings with minds? Is, wait, what is in that crypt anyway?" Korra asked as the two entered the room with lights.

The room wasn't particularly large, a simple half circle shape room. Around its walls hung a simple line of brass lanterns shining with electrical power coming from an unknown source, casting dim light throughout the room. She could see an odd pattern on the floor and ceilings, semicircles connected in chaotic ways, extending throughout the room, odd symbols and characters foreign to her adorning them. Four other people in pure white robes stood around the room, unmoving and still as the two walked in, all seeming to stare at the crypt.

The crypt was massive, standing up, braced against the wall, taller than her, taller than anyone she had ever met or even heard of and as wide as three men standing side by side. Its makers were completely unknown to her. She didn't even recognize the stone it was made out of. A black stone that seemed to draw in all light with its mere presence, adorned and covered with more of the symbols and characters she could not recognize. Only a small window seemed to not made of the odd stone, glass fogged over, revealing nothing inside.

"Please stand aside," Korra heard as the person with the lantern seemed to hover forward, the other four moving to odd cranks on the wall, turning and moving like clockwork figures. All played out before Korra's eyes.

Korra backed against a wall as the people in white began turning the cranks. Slowly ancient gears began turning, grinding against one another, scraping at rust accumulated over decades. Such noise Korra had not expected, pounding sound that seemed to rip at her ears, a slow screeching sound as little by little, the lid of the crypt pushed further and further forward.

Hiiiiiiiisssssssssssssss

Fog began pushing out of the crypt, making it ever harder to see, turning everything into mere shadows across a room. Korra couldn't even see her hand in front of her face after a few seconds, impenetrable clouds filling the room far too efficiently. Slowly she inhaled, tasting the odd mist. She couldn't even properly describe the taste: just thinking it as something so foreign that she couldn't even compare it to anything that had ever touched her tongue.

Yet, through it all the sounds continued, the ancient gears turning over and over again, the scraping sound continuing as the lid of the crypt pushed open.

Korra turned slightly. She couldn't Airbend, the art still remaining out of her grasps. But, she could Waterbend. Slowly she outstretched her hands, turning them, trying to pull the fog out of the air, trying and failing. Even though she normally could, she couldn't Bend the water in the air.

The sounds ended. For a single second, the entire room was silent in the fog as the gears stopped turning, and the screeching sound stopped. For a single second, a single breath, everything was silent in the room. For a single second, in the fog, Korra could calm herself, try to convince herself that nothing was going to happen.

SLAM.

Korra nearly jumped as the sound rocked through the room, a heavy pounding sound, the sound of the crypt's lid falling to the ground. It pounded through Korra's chest, seeming to put a stop to her beating heart for a single breath. A single breath, for Korra to regain control of her nerves. But, it lasted only a single breath.

_ Shesherrshoshesh_

As the sound entered Korra's ears, one by one, the brass lanterns began burning out, filaments popping as the room got darker and darker. And, through the foggy darkness, the sound came again and again.

_Sheshoshroshoshhoshe_

_ Shoshesheshosheshesh_

_ Sheshershoshshrosh_

_ Sheshoshosheresh_

_ Sheresheshesheroshesheshosh_

Five times. Five times, the awful sounds entered Korra's ears. She was sweating, her hands on the walls, her body pressed against it.

"Are you out there?" Korra's terrified voice shrieked, but no response was heard. "Chapter of the Petrified Stems?" No response could be heard. "Anyone?" Silence. "Hello?" "Please no. This isn't funny! Please, anyone?"

_Shesheshesheshosh_

"No. Stay back. No!" Korra screamed. It was growing closer. Something was creeping toward her in the darkness. It had to be. She wasn't alone in the darkness of the room.

_Shereshoshoshe_

It was practically on top of her. Whatever was making the sounds was mere steps away from her, growing closer.

"Stay back!" Terrified, Korra's fist slammed forward, flames bursting forth. For a few long seconds, light poured into the dark room, revealing the truth.

Korra was alone. The fogs were gone even. The crypt was open, a dark stone box. But, nothing was in it. Only the open door littered the floor. There weren't even any bodies. All of the people in white were gone, vanished without bloodshed or a struggle. She was alone; somewhere in a massive underground complex, somewhere in suffocating darkness, she was alone. Or at least, she thought she was.

_Sheshoshrosheshshoeshesh_


	2. Inquisition

Inquisition

_Sheshoshrosheshshoeshesh_

The sound stabbed at Korra. She had thought she was alone. In the inescapable void of light of the massive underground prison complex, in the pitch black maze located far away from anyone who would come looking, in darkness and silence of an underground tomb, somewhere something was hunting her.

_Shesheshesheshoshresh_

Korra fist thrust forth again, flames shooting out, casting a dim light on the room for a second time. She was alone. As the light of the flames burned away, she could see only an empty room with the exception of the crypt, still open, still empty. Something had escaped.

_Shoshereshesheshreshrshe_

Korra's head shot to the right, her fist slamming forth toward the sound. Flames shot forth, revealing nothing but the crypt again. She was breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding. She was not afraid. She could not let herself be afraid.

The people in white robes, they had all disappeared. They could not have gotten past her. Something told her they were gone: dead, eaten, or warped somewhere else. She could not understand how it had happened, but it was the only thing that made sense. That thing, whatever it was, it had taken them. But it had not taken her.

_Sheshesheshorshesh_

Korra turned, Firebending into the darkness, once again seeing nothing but an empty room. Why had it not taken her? Could it not take her? Could something be blocking it? In the fading light, she could see the odd runes and symbols still on the ground. Was it trapped behind them? Korra did not know.

_Sheshesheshosheshorshosheshe _

Flames once again shot forth. It had sounded like it was right in front of her face. But there was nothing there. The way it was making sounds, it reminded Korra of a caged animal desperate to escape, pacing against the edges of its cell, pounding at the bars.

It was trying to escape. It had to be. And, Korra did not want to be there when it did break free. She could leave. Nobody was stopping her. She could simply return to Tenzin, turn off or break the elevator after freeing herself, make sure that nothing down there would ever escape.

She began moving, leaving the room, slowly walking into the never-ending darkness of the hallways.

Darkness surrounded her. She was blinded, trapped in a pitch black world. She had been Firebending constantly. She would take five steps, then inhale and Firebend anew on her sixth step. But, through the exhausting work, she had slowly made what she had thought was progress. She dredged at her mind, trying to remember every step she had taken, trying to recall every twist and turn.

Korra was failing though. Her memories deceived her. Had she missed a turn? Had she put the turns in the correct order? And, if her memories failed, how long would she be down there?  
She Firebended again, flames shooting into the darkness of the long hallway. It seemed to stretch on forever. Would she ever escape? She remembered hearing of some right-hand rule. Tracing the walls with your one's right hand, it was supposed to be an easy way to escape any maze. It even worked with the left hand. She could not trust her memories. They kept deceiving her.

Slowly, she outstretched her left hand. The walls had seemed closer in the darkness. They had almost felt claustrophobic, mere inches from her in every direction. But, as she reached further and further out, the wall seemed infinitely far away. For a split second, the same paranoid fear of being told to put her hand into a box to touch something returned to her.

Slowly, her fingers touched against the wall, sliding upward as her palm touched down, and in that moment, she froze. Somehow every fiber of every muscle seemed to cease all movement, refusing to react as her hand touched against the wall. Slowly, she felt it: a feeling of a liquid flowing around her fingertips, running down the length of her fingers until it pooled and began flowing over her hand. Something was dripping down the wall.

It was blood. It had to be blood. The walls were bleeding. Blood was dripping down the walls covering Korra's hand. And, in feeling that blood on her hands, Korra had frozen.

She inhaled slowly. She could practically smell it. She felt her hand pull away from the wall, slowly feeling the blood dripping down her palm. She could barely control her body. Her legs shook in fear.

What had caused the blood to flow? Why on earth were the walls bleeding? Where had all the blood come from?

She exhaled slowly, her chest shuddering as the air left her lungs. Her hand had moved practically on her own, hovering before her face. Blood was on them, dripping from her fingertips, mere inches from her eyes, but hidden under an impenetrable veil of darkness.

She inhaled again, a long slow breath through her nose, smelling the air around her, smelling the blood on her fingertips. But, she did not smell anything. There was blood dripping down the walls, covering her hands, was there not? She had been sure there was blood all over her hand.

She brought her hand closer, smelling liquid that covered her fingers. It did not smell like blood. She lowered her fingers, slightly swallowing as the thoughts crossed her mind of how insane it all seemed.

Slowly, Korra's tongue stuck out, touching against her fingertip, tasting what she had assured herself was blood.

"It's, it's just water?" Korra asked aloud. She Firebended into the darkness again. It made sense. There was probably some aquifer, or tank of water nearby that had leaked into the walls. She could even see the water dripping through the cracks where the walls met the ceiling.

"I'm just jumpy," she said in the fading light. "I'm okay. It's nothing. My mind's playing tricks on me. That's it. I'm just afraid. I'm okay. I'm fine."

Slowly, she inhaled again, extending her left hand to touch the wall. It was just water dripping down her hands as she took the first few steps.

The rhythmic tapping of her footstep echoed down the hallway. Over and over again, as she took step after step, she could always hear the same rhythmic tapping. Throughout the constant fears of being hopelessly lost, throughout the constant fears that she would be trapped down there forever, the footsteps continued on, echoing through the otherwise impenetrable darkness.

Korra exhaled, slowly feeling the air leave her lungs. She had to be hearing something. She had to be imagining things. Her ears had to be playing tricks on her. But, she could swear she could hear something else alongside her footsteps. Somehow, just on the lowest edge of her ears capability to hear, she kept picking up on another tapping.

It seemed she wasn't alone in dark depths, something else lurked the underground hallway, but that something else was not human. The rhythm of the footsteps was faster, sounding quadrupedal. Was it some sort of wolf-bat that had managed to find some way in? Was it some sort of dog? Something told Korra it wasn't. It had to be something far worse.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer and louder and louder. Korra began walking faster as the footsteps getting faster and faster. They had picked up a running pace.

Without her even realizing it, Korra's breath was uncontrollable, inhaling and exhaling faster and faster. But, the footsteps were growing closer still. She could hear it rushing at her, teeth and fangs ready to strike. It was close, mere seconds away from attacking her. She could not even hear her footsteps beneath the other things footsteps. It was practically on top of her.

She stopped, exhaling as her fist pushed forward, flames shooting down the hallway.

The sounds were gone. The hallway was empty. It always had been. There was no beast about to attack her. She had been alone. As the light of the flames faded, she could see that she was alone.

"It was nothing? I, I was just hearing things?" Korra asked.

She took a single step forward. The echoes sounded the same.

"I'm okay. Nothing's out there. I'm, I'm fine."

It was all in her head. It had always been all in her head. At the rate she was going, she was practically afraid of her shadow.

"I'm not okay. Am I?"


	3. Judgement

Judgement

In the never ending darkness of the underground prison complex, in the void that filled the unending nearly empty hallways, a sound echoed against the polished stone walls.

Korra had heard it. For the first time in what had seemed like hours, something had pierced the darkness. It did not seem possible. Her ears had played tricks with her, but this sound, it seemed too real. It had to be real.

Within seconds, Korra was walking directly toward the sound of an engine running and a metal cage creaking. It did not seem possible, but, it echoed louder and louder as she walked toward the source, assuring her of truth, assuring her that the same elegant brass cage that she had taken to enter the underground complex was growing closer and closer. But, even as she began to see the reflection of still shining brass in the fading light of her Firebending, she had to wonder about a simple question. The elevator was lowering. Who was about to enter the abandoned and underground prison?

Korra could hear the metal creaking some ways above. It would be on the ground very shortly. For the slightest moment, she had the faintest worry that the thing, whatever had been in the crypt, had managed to escape and called the elevator. The faintest fear had crept upon her that it was hiding, lurking and waiting. She inhaled, seeing the faintest glimmer of some light in the in the elevator. At the very least, it was not empty. Her fears were unfounded.

She exhaled, watching the dim light drop more and more. Inhaling, she watched the bottom of the elevator lower, her eyes widening, her mouth opening as she saw the person inside it.

"Tenzin?"

Light from a lantern Tenzin held poured out into the darkness, illuminating Korra and the maze of hallways she had walked down.

Slowly, the elevator reached its bottom, the engine rumbling to a stop somewhere well above. The gate creaked as Tenzin pushed it open, the lantern swinging as he stepped out.

"Korra? What on earth is going on? Where is everyone?" Tenzin demanded as he looked around.

"Gone," she said quietly, staring at the ground.

"Korra, what happened to them?" Tenzin asked, concern rising in his voice.

"Well, we opened the crypt," she said, her mouth seeming to push words out slower and slower. She took a breath. Her chest was racing. "When we opened it all the lights went out and everyone else was gone. I've been trying to find the elevator since."

"And, you are absolutely sure the crypt was opened? You are sure you saw the inside of it, correct?" Tenzin asked.

"Yeah. It was open all right," Korra said. She looked toward him seeing the shock and alarm on his face. "Tenzin what was in there?"

"Come with me," he said as he began walking, "We must close it, immediately."

Within a second, he was past Korra, herself still frozen at the prospect of returning to that chamber. She turned. Tenzin was walking fast. She nearly had to run to catch up with him.

"Tenzin, what was in there?" Korra repeated. The lantern swung wildly, throwing her shadow across the walls and floor. "Tenzin! What was in there?"

"A long time ago," Tenzin said, "When I was a boy, my father told me that he had managed to lock something very dangerous down here." He exhaled slowly. "I cannot believe that those White Lotus members would do something so reckless. This is the exact reason they were nearly excommunicated five years ago."

"I'm guessing he didn't say anything more specific," Korra said as she looked down the hallway. Tenzin's route seemed oddly familiar. She could swear she could recognize some of the odd cuts in the stone walls, the odd chips on the corners.

"No," Tenzin said. There was something about the route he had chosen. There was something about the particular twists and turns. Korra had taken them before. It was the exact same route she had taken when she was hopelessly lost in the darkness.

She didn't say anything about the route. Perhaps she had merely taken the shortest path by sheer luck. Tenzin seemed to know the way. His pace was fast, the rate that one would take if they had walked through an area a hundred times.

Through the constantly swinging lantern, she could see the area where the water dripped down the walls. Within seconds it was behind her, and she could see a faint glow ahead.

She inhaled. The lights had been burned out when she had left, casting the area into more of the same darkness that had filled the rest of the underground. But, the lights were on. Korra exhaled. It had to be that they weren't truly burned out, but instead their power had been cut. But, she distinctly remembered hearing the filaments pop over and over again. She had to be remembering incorrectly.

She inhaled again. They were nearly to the chamber with the crypt. By the time she exhaled, they were inside, surrounded by the light, staring at what had seemed impossible.

Slowly, her eyes panned across the room, glancing over the bodies laying on the floor, unmoving: dead, seeming almost as piles of the whitest lines thrown upon the ground. Slowly, her eyes passed over each one, each time her mind thinking back to the image of the empty room in the fading light of the fireball. And, as she passed over them, she could not help but look at the crypt.

It was closed. Had her memories deceived her? She remembered hearing the pounding of the massive lid upon the ground. Had she imagined it all? She remembered seeing the lid on the ground in the fading light, seeing the black rock that had lined the inside of the crypt. Had her memories been wrong?

"Korra, you did see it, open, didn't you?" she heard.

"This doesn't make any sense."

She began walking, stepping past the bodies, over the runes that lined the floor, heading directly toward the crypt. It had been open. Whatever was in there had escaped. So, the crypt had to be empty.

"They were gone," Korra continued, mere steps from the crypt.

There was a small window on the lid: a tiny piece of glass revealing the insides of the crypt.

"This room was empty, and that crypt was open."

She had to stretch to see into the window, her body freezing as she looked inside, seeing her own eyes stare back. Somehow, trapped in the crypt made of pitch black rocks was herself, or perhaps another her. Her hair was a total mess, her eyes sunken in out of fear, almost looking like she hadn't slept in days, her skin appearing to be paler and almost sickly looking.

"No. No. This can't be."

Her breath was grown more and more uncontrollable. Slowly, she swallowed, trying to regain control, but feeling her heart racing, her hands beginning to shake. She couldn't seem to pull herself away, her eyes staring at the other her, unable to move, unable to blink.

"Korra!" Tenzin's voice ripped into her ears, drawing her away from the window, forcing her to look toward him. "Why were you looking at that mirror?"

She turned. It was a mirror? She waved her had in front of it, seeing the reflection. She exhaled, her breath slowly returning to normal.

"I'm not doing okay; am I?" Korra asked, realizing how crazy she had to seem.

"I think you're afraid," Tenzin said. "I think you are confused, and you aren't entirely sure what you saw. Please tell me what honestly happened. I cant help you unless you tell me the truth."

Korra looked toward Tenzin. "All I remember was that they were turning the gears, this weird fog filled the room, something sounded like the lid fell off, the lights went out, and when I Firebended, the room was empty." She shook her head, trying to figure out what was truth from what was fabrications of a terrified mind.

Tenzin exhaled slowly. "Korra, I need you to tell me the truth. These people were killed with Waterbending. What happened to them?"

"I don't, I don't know. They were gone. That thing took them somewhere."

"Korra," Tenzin demanded, "What did you do!"

"I, I don't know," Korra stammered, looking down toward his feet, her body freezing, her eyes opening wider.

It all made sense. She looked up toward Tenzin's face.

"You're not real," she said.

"What are you talking about!"

"How did you know how to get here, through a maze of hallways, taking the exact route I had taken? How do you know about White Lotus inner working when you aren't one of them? And, how is it that you don't have a shadow?"

Korra inhaled in the silence, slowly watching Tenzin, wondering what on earth he would do. Slowly, she exhaled. Tenzin's eyebrows were lowering. She nearly expected him to yell at her. He seemed too real for it to be another fearful mind's creation.

Tenzin inhaled. Korra's chest was pounding, her breath becoming more and more rapid. She could feel herself slowly sweating, watching Tenzin's, waiting for him to act, waiting for the first sound to exit his lungs. He was about to speak; soon he would yell at her, telling her exactly how wrong she was.

She inhaled, slowly closing her eyes, hearing an odd second of silence. Rapidly, air pushed itself out of her lungs, her eyes forcing themselves open as she heard the familiar sound of filaments popping.

She could hear herself nearly silently whispering 'no' over and again.

One by one the lights on the wall burned out, the room slowly getting darker and darker until the only light was that of Tenzin's lantern, swaying slightly, throwing her shadow all across the room.

The bodies were gone, disappeared as she had closed her eyes. The room was empty with the exception of herself, Tenzin, and the crypt.

"No..."

Her heart raced, drops of cold sweat dripping down the back of her neck as her breath became more and more controllable.

SLAM.

She jumped slightly, hearing the sound of the crypt open, not bothering to look toward it, her eyes focused on Tenzin, fixated on him. Watching him, knowing what was about to come next but finding herself unable to move.

"No."

Tenzin's mouth opened slightly.

_ Sheshoshrosheshshoeshesh_

The lantern fell, crashing against the ground, the last light in the entire complex burning away in the darkness.

"No!"

Korra began running, punching forward, a fireball slightly illuminating the entire area. It was empty. Tenzin was gone. But, she could still hear the sound.

_Shorershoshoshesh_

It came from right behind her, eternally behind her footsteps. It was hunting her, chasing her down like a mere beast.

She kept running, leaving the crypt, hopelessly running into the dark hallways.

_Shosheshoshosheshesherosh_


	4. Cages

Cages

_Sheshoshrosheshoeshesh_

Footsteps: fast paced, rhythmic tapping echoed down an empty dark corridor. Somebody was running, fleeing, helplessly.

_Shoshesheshoshesheshreshhshoesh_

Wild and uncontrollable breath echoed out into the darkness. It pounded out of the lungs, ripping at an exhausted throat. Occasionally screams were even heard. Moments of terror, moments when the idea that perhaps the maze of hallways would lead to a dead end, moments when the idea that there was no escape surfaced: all caused a screech of fear to echo out into the air.

_Shoershreshesh_

And, throughout the fearful run, a sound of cages rattling, cell doors shaking, and chains slamming against iron bars began nearly silently pounding throughout the entire area.

_Shershroshsheshershoshe_

Korra heard the sound mere seconds behind her. It was always seeming to get closer and closer, no matter how fast she ran, no matter how much she pushed he lungs and legs, she could never escape it. Her eyes had slowly adjusted to the darkness so that the foggiest outline of the walls could be seen. Her ears began picking up the faintest change in echoes signaling a wall was nearby. But, no matter what, she could never lose the fear of something growing closer and closer, ready to end her.

Through aching lungs, desperate for more air, through a hazy vision of runny through the darkness, through sounds of her breath and footsteps echoing through her ears, she sensed a split in the path. A few steps away, on the left, there was a new hallway.

Within a second, Korra had spun, turning down the hallway, stopping immediately, her back flush with the smooth stone, her lungs aching, her heart pounding.

She didn't dare to move, even to take a single breath. A toe touching against the polished stone floor, an inhalation or exhalation: any sound could alert whatever had chased her to what she had done.

_ROSHOSHESHESHOESHERESHE_

Her heart pounded. She could even feel it, beating harder and harder, faster and faster, attempting in vain to get air to her limbs without any air coming in from her lungs. But, she couldn't take a breath. It was right next to her. It hadn't moved. She could sense it, just a bit to her right, searching for her, listening for even the slightest sound. She couldn't allow herself to breath, even as her heart pounded harder and faster. It seemed to be completely unmoving, waiting for any sound to give chase to. A bead of sweat dripped down the back of her neck, representing a slew of fears. What if it could hear her heart? What if it already knew where she was?

Her eyes closed, waiting for it to finally catch her, still holding her breath, still hearing the constant thumping of her chest.

_Sheshoshrosheshoeshesh_

Korra's eyes sprung open, air forcing itself out of her lungs in a weak cough. The sound had come from well down the hall. She had eluded it, at least for a moment.

Panting, she began moving, walking, running down the new tunnel. She had to get away. It was going to figure out her trick soon enough. She was not safe. It was not done with her yet.

But, her mind drifted away from the thing and begin focusing on the hallway. It wasn't long. She could see its end, see the massive chamber it opened up into.

Through the darkness appeared cells, walls of rusted iron bars rising from cracked stone bricks appeared. They stretched on as far as she could see: a silent, dead, and empty prison appearing before her.

Stopping, Korra exhaled, feeling her breath shudder out, hearing her heart begin beating louder and louder. Perhaps it had been the noise her lungs had made running, perhaps it had been the noise her heart had made beating louder and louder as she fled, or perhaps it had been the sound of what had chased her, but by comparison, there didn't seem to be a single sound in that chamber that wasn't caused by her.

She inhaled, hearing the sound echo off the walls, entering her ears. She was truly alone, with no sound being generated around her.

Slowly, she began walking again, her feet lightly touching down against the ground again and again, making the same tapping sound over and over again. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Clang.

Korra froze, not daring to take another step, not daring to move even a finger. Something else was down there, hidden amongst the countless cells, lurking out of sight. She exhaled, slowly releasing all the air in her lungs in a long constant stream.

Slowly, her eyes began glancing around in the darkness, perhaps it had been her imagination, perhaps it was her eyes straining, but, somehow out of the corner of her eyes, at the very edges of her peripheral vision, she kept seeing the faintest flickers of movement. Something was in the chamber with her, staying out of all but the corners of her sight.

Silently, she started inhaling. Nothing had happened for several seconds. She wanted to blame the entire thing on the ground slightly shifting, or perhaps some freak wind, but neither made sense. The silence felt too thick, like she was being stalked by something, waiting for her to finally let her guard down.

Clang... Clang...

Korra's eyes shot to her left. The sounds had come from nearly directly to that side, she was sure of it. But, she saw no movement, only still metal bars.

Clang... Clang.. Clang. CLANG. CLANG CLANG!

Korra's eyes opened wider, her breath growing more and more rapid, as she looked around at whatever was happening.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

She had to hide. All the noise was going to attract it, the thing that had chased her. She began running, her eyes darting, searching for anything, anywhere to hide. Within a few desperate breaths, she spotted something: a cell with its doors torn off. By the time she blinked, she was inside, panting, her heart racing as the clanging grew louder and louder, faster and faster.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANGclangCLANGCLANGclangCLANGCLANG!

She frantically glanced around the cell looking for anything to hide behind or use, her eyes only making out a massive wash basin on the far wall, large enough to wash clothes in, filled with some sort of dark, murky water.

CLANGCLANGCLA-_Shersheshesheroshesheshosh_

Korra's blood went cold. It had caught up with her. Whatever had chased her throughout the complex, whatever she thought for the moment she had eluded had finally arrived, and as it did, everything had grown silent.

She spun, trying to hide behind whatever cover the bars could offer, her eyes straining, looking out into the chamber upon the cells. She inhaled, shuddering, dreading whatever was about to come.

After what seemed to be a massive effort, Korra exhaled, feeling her chest beat heavily. It had to be close to the entrance. She inhaled again, trying to regain control of her beating heart. She was pounding with all the adrenaline, making her hands shake. Slowly, she looked upwards, staring into the near pitch blackness of the empty cells above her on the far wall, searching for anything, any movement, seeing nothing. She could swear she had seen something lurking in there before, in those silent moments before the clanging had alerted it to her location. Had something happened? Had something changed since it had arrived?

Slowly, she inhaled again. Beside the faint whispers of her heart and breath, not a sound had entered her ears in what had to have seemed too long. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could nearly see the entrance to the chamber. Nothing was lurking there, as far as she could see, but in the pitch blackness she could never be sure. She could make a run for it, slip past whatever was lurking out in the chamber and what had chased her. She exhaled.

Slowly, her shaking hands reached forward, grabbing onto the rusting iron bars, pulling her closer. She could make out the entrance to the chamber, see how near it was. Nothing was there, and it was just a few seconds of a sprint before she had left the cages. Could she make it? Would there be something lurking, unseen in one of the other cages? And, where was the thing that had chased her for so long? She had heard it. It was in that chamber somewhere.

She had to escape. Anything was better than waiting for her death or worse in that cage. She had to get out of there. Slowly, Korra forced herself to swallow.

She would a make a run for it on three. Korra inhaled, her heart pounding.

One...

Two...

Drip!

She spun. It had come from the water basin behind her, a simple sound of a drop of water falling. Before she was even fully aware of what had happened, her trembling fingers had reformed into a fist for Firebending, her arms pulling back and preparing to strike, to fill the entire cell with flames, immolating whatever terror had been hiding behind her.

But, as she finished turning, her feet stopping their spin, she saw nothing: no horror ready to strike at her, not even the faintest echo of a ripple in the black water that had filled the basin.

Slowly, her trembling hands lowered. Korra hadn't realized it, but she had formed fists squeezing so tightly that her nails had nearly cut into her palms. She seemed to be nearly unable to force her grip to loosen.

Korra exhaled, a long slow breath outward, trying in vain to let go of the feeling of fight or flight. She inhaled again, her lungs forcing themselves to pull in air.

She exhaled, her heart pounding more and more, harder and harder despite her attempts to control it.

An icy breath blew across the back of her neck.

Her body seized in that moment, unwilling and unable to move. Something had found her, and every muscle in her body had tensed up as the feeling had ripped from the back of her neck down through every one of her limbs.

Her hands weren't even able to shake. Her breath dared to try to stop altogether, but after a second was forced to resign to the slightest shallowest inhalations and exhalations. Her legs felt as if they had been cemented into place. Her head dared not even make the most basic of movements, even her eyes seemed to blink only after the greatest of efforts.

Something was watching her, waiting for her to make the first move, waiting for her to dare to try anything so that she could be swallowed in a single second. She could practically feel its predatory eyes gazing at her, its twisted limbs ready to strike at her in a single second. A single twitch, a single breath, the slightest tremor of the hand and she would be gone forever.

Slowly, her eyes began focusing on the far wall. She threw herself against it, her body turning her eyes looking back and all the air in her lungs exploding out of her as her hand punched back, a blast of flame lighting up where her head would have been.

As her shoulder slammed against the cracked stone, in the fading light of the fireball, as her feet slipped backward on the damp floor and she fell, she saw nothing. There was no monster, no horrible predator lurking behind her. It was all merely her terrified nerves, enough to make a drip of water seem like a daemon was about to strike at her, enough to make an odd breeze feel like something was breathing down her neck.

Slowly, she began forcing herself up, pushing herself to her feet, as she stared out the chamber. She swallowed, feeling frigid sweat fall down her upper arms to shaking hands. Her shaking had spread to her legs. She had barely realized it before, but even her feet were slowly quaking in the puddle of water. For a moment, Korra had wondered about how she had missed noticing a puddle quite so sizable, its water covering nearly half the cells floor, and slowly but surely spreading further onwards. But, other things concerned her. For some reason, her heart seemed to be pounding, and even as she attempted to control of her breath, it seemed to grow increasingly wild and uncontrollable.

Korra turned, staring out at the main chamber. Her breath seemed to be acting like she was still being chased, like that thing was still mere seconds behind her. She swallowed again, not noticing that her lower lip had begun to quiver, not noticing that with each exhalation, a nearly silent "No" escaped.

Drip.

She paid no attention to the dripping sound as she began to step toward the bars again. Her foot was slightly off the ground when she felt her hair being tugged.

Drip.

In that moment, in that single dripping sound, her body went numb as she felt herself being pulled backwards, her upper back slamming against the top of the massive washbasin as her head submerged underneath the dark water.

She could feel herself struggling as she watched the bubbles that once held her breath escaping from her, hearing an all too unfamiliar sound.

_Shesheshesheshreshhsheshesh_

Within an instant she was screaming, her body slamming and writing, trying for her to break free as she felt herself being pulled further and further underwater. She couldn't Waterbend it. Despite her arms and legs performing any moves she could think of, nothing happened. She could merely pull at the side of the water basin, slamming her back and legs as hard as she could against the ground. Her lungs were beginning to ache with the exertion, and she could feel that it was only a matter of time.

As she thrashed she could see the water shaking and swirling, feeling herself turning and falling sideways. Her body, fell to the ground, hearing the sound of the granite basin slam against the floor, seeing the water pour everywhere.

She coughed, black water pouring out her mouth, hacking out of her lungs. She inhaled, still coughing out black water as she scrambled to her feet, running and sprinting as hard as she could within an instant, hearing the all too familiar sound as she left the chamber of cells.

_Sheshoshrosheshoeshesh_

It was close, eternally a few steps behind her.


End file.
